WICHITA - The Newman women's basketball team inched its way closer to a Heartland Conference championship with a 72-51 win over the Texas A&M International Dustdevils Saturday afternoon inside Fugate Gymnasium. Tasha Cannon led all scorers with a 26-point outing.

The first possession of the game told the story of the night for Texas A&M International (7-19, 4-5 Heartland). The Dustdevils won the opening tip, but turned the ball over to Newman (15-7, 5-1 Heartland), which converted the turnover into two points after a pair of Alex Adekunle free throws in the opening minute. TAMIU countered with a pair of Johnna Williams free throws to tie the game at 2-2. Neither team seemed too eager to take control in the early stages of the contest. The Jets took a brief 7-2 lead after a Rhea Codio three pointer, but TAMIU used a 9-4 spurt to force an 11-11 tie near the 14-minute mark. Newman finally made its move four minutes later, when an Adekunle jumper sparked a 7-0 Newman run, capped by a Celeste Key lay-up with 8:02 to play in the first half that gave Newman a 25-15 lead. The Dustdevils answered with six-straight points and snuck back within four, 25-21 with five minutes left in the opening half, but an 8-2 Newman run gave the Jets another 10-point, 33-23 cushion with 2:26 remaining in the period. The Jets maintained a lead of at least eight for the final two minutes of the half, and held a 36-28 advantage at halftime.

Texas A&M International wasn't ready to give up in the second half. Just two minutes into the final period the Dustdevils had narrowed Newman's lead to five, 38-33, after a Michaeda Sobers jumper at the 18:05 mark, but a six-minute Dustdevil scoring drought, combined with nine-straight pionts from the Jets allowed Newman to take a 47-33 advantage with 12:17 remaining. Five minutes later, the Jets stretched that lead to 20 when a Tasha Cannon jumper gave Newman a 59-39 edge with 7:11 remaining. Newman led by as many as 24 when Codio drained another trey with 2:45 to play, then cruised to the finish line with a 72-51 win.

Tasha Cannon's 26-point outing led all scorers in the contest. The junior went 10-for-14 from the field, and added four rebounds to her resume. Philicia Kelly finished one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Rhea Codio added 10 points as Newman's only other double-digit scorer.

Linda Banuelos scored 16 points to lead the Dustdevils.

With the win, Newman improves to 15-7 on the season, and 5-1 in Heartland Conference play. They return to action Monday, hosting St. Mary's Tip-time inside Newman's Fugate Gymnasium is slated for 4 p.m.